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20-minute workouts that work

Posted on Feb 10, 2011 3:43 PM by Kori Ellis
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You don't have to spend all day at the gym. With these 20-minute workouts, you can get fit in no time.

Woman doing push ups

20-minute circuit work-out

This total-body work-out from Sarah Slattery, a trainer at Equinox Fitness in New York City, was originally published in Fitness Magazine. Each circuit should take you about 10 minutes, so you should run through it twice to complete a full-body 20-minute work-out.

Windmill

Targets: Abs

Stand tall with arms extended out to sides, abs engaged.
Bending from waist, reach right arm toward left toes; repeat on left.
Do 25 reps, alternating sides.

Pulsing lunge

Targets: Butt and legs

Lunge forward with right leg; hold for 4 seconds, then pulse up and down 5 times.
Repeat on left.
Do 2 reps.

Triceps kickback

Targets: Triceps

Hold dumbbell in right hand.
Bend at hips until almost parallel to floor.
Bring elbow to ribs, straighten forearm back and return.
Do 15 reps on each arm.

Plank/Push-up

Targets: Chest and core

Start in plank position (palms on floor, hands below shoulders, abs engaged, back straight).
Hold for 30 seconds. Drop to knees.
Do 15 push-ups.

Squat/Bicep curls

Targets: Arms, butt and legs

Squat, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Do 8 reps.
On last rep, stay down and do 10 bicep curls.

Bridge/Chest fly

Targets: Chest and butt

Lie faceup, knees bent, holding dumbbells over chest with arms extended, palms in.
Press into heels, lifting hips toward ceiling into bridge.
Lower weights out to sides, toward floor (5 reps); lower hips.
Do entire sequence 5 times.

Rest for 1 minute; repeat circuit.

Push-up/Crunch superset

Short on time? In this powerful set of exercises from Military.com, you can actually do a total of 300 push-ups and 400 crunches in 20 minutes. Don't rest between the sets and you'll see big results, even if you do this work-out every other day.

Repeat 10 cycles of:

10 regular push-ups
10 crunches
10 wide push-ups
10 crunches
10 tricep push-ups
10/10 left/right crunches

20-minute dumbbell work-out

Though this video is old, the exercises are still effective. Check out this 20-minute dumbbell work-out from sparkpeople.com.

More quick fitness ideas

Kori Ellis

Kori Ellis is an editor and writer based in San Antonio, TX, where she lives with her husband and three children. At SheKnows, she writes about parenting, fashion, beauty and other lifestyle topics. Additionally, Kori has been published in dozens of magazines, newspapers and websites worldwide, writing about everything from wedding planning to fantasy sports.